Analysis: System stumped by wife beaters.

Byline: HIL ANDERSON

LOS ANGELES, May 20 (UPI) -- A scathing report issued this week out of a quiet corner of Idaho indicated that in the decade following the passage of the federal Violence Against Women Act, abusive husbands continue to terrorize their mates with little interference from the criminal justice system.

A panel of citizens formed in Nampa, Idaho, to investigate the slaying of Angie Leon a year ago said in its report that the victim's husband, Abel Leon, was able to mount a 5-year reign of terror with virtual impunity against the 21-year-old mother of three -- despite numerous arrests and court orders.

The report stated: "Angie Leon did what she could do to engage the system. She called police as she was instructed each time she felt in danger. She reported contacts, cooperated with investigations and communicated with both the police and prosecutor until almost the end."

"In short," the report sadly concluded, "she put her trust in the system to protect her ... and her trust was repaid with her death."

Angie Leon was allegedly shot and killed May 19, 2003, in her home shortly after she frantically urged her mother to take her three terrified youngsters and flee before her estranged husband showed up for yet another uninvited visit; she was tipped off of the impending confrontation by a caller ID that showed a pay phone telephone number, a method of contact frequently used by her former spouse that generally preceded threatening contact.

The couple's final confrontation was certainly not their first; however, it capped a spiraling and dark descent that was not, or could not be stopped as Abel Leon repeatedly saw various criminal court charges against him unceremoniously dropped or plea-bargained down to petty misdemeanors while Angie Leon proved unable or unwilling to pack up her kids and bags and put some distance between herself and her increasingly violent husband.